Unless Tennessee chancellor Dr. Beverly Davenport and new athletics director John Currie have been in a bubble for the past 48 hours or so, it would’ve been virtually impossible for them to miss the fact that many UT fans have been vocal about the decision to hire Currie over fan favorites such as David Blackburn or Phillip Fulmer.
The way Currie sees it, he takes the fact that Tennessee has something that not all schools have.
“They’ve got this problem – people don’t care,” Currie said at his public introduction at Thompson-Boling Arena on Thursday afternoon in reference to programs around the nation that deal with fan apathy. “I’ll take care anytime. We can deal with care. We’re going to get right after it. We’re going to be all across the state, around the country, we’re going to be across campus.”
In the press conference portion that followed, Currie was asked about his plan to unite a fan base that was clearly split into factions as this search unfolded.
“All I can do is get out there and work hard every single day,” he said. “I think the listening part and recognizing the heritage that all the people represent. This is a very special place and people have poured their heart and soul into the place. You just have to spend some time and appropriately honor and recognize and be around and those things will work out.”
Currie, an accomplished AD from the standpoint of fundraising, facility development, compliance and APR, will likely face his biggest challenge in the area of repairing a fractured fanbase that was looking for a unifying hire.
A former associate AD at Tennessee, Currie brings UT ties, but also a past that included a role in the firing of Fulmer, the hiring of Lane Kiffin and a place in a checkered period of history for the Vols. So while returning to Knoxville brings some level of comfort, Currie also acknowledged that there challenges coming back to Knoxville.
“I get to come back to one of the [places] I’ve already been at,” he said. “That’s an advantage and a disadvantage. One of the disadvantages is that when you’re at a place for awhile, and you’re part of some decisions you do hurt some feelings, or whatever. But there’s also the advantage that you know a lot of folks too. I think my two good buddies Greg (Byrne) and Scott (Stricklin) that took the Alabama and Florida job, they’ve never been at those places, so they’ve got a learning curb. I’ve got a learning curve and I’ve got a reacquaintance curve. And I’m going to get after it.”
